Freelance science/technology journalist and author

AI is now better than humans at spotting signs of cardiac arrest

Time to start hoping a robot takes that emergency call. When it comes to spotting signs of cardiac arrest, artificial intelligence is beating humans.

New Scientist first covered Copenhagen-based artificial intelligence company Corti earlier this year. Its AI was being trialled in Denmark to listen in on emergency calls in real-time. It searches for patterns of communication, including features like tone of voice and breathing sounds. Now we know how well the system works.

According to a study of 161,650 emergency calls using Corti’s system, it is more accurate and faster at detecting signs of a cardiac arrest over the phone than dispatchers.